New molten salt battery for grid
As renewable forms of power like wind and solar continue to gain prominence, there will be a need for creative solutions when it comes to storing energy from sources that are intermittent by nature. One potential solution is known as a molten salt battery, which offers advantages that lithium batteries do not, but have their share of kinks to iron out, too. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have come up with a new design that addresses a number of these shortcomings, and demonstrated a working molten salt battery that can be constructed far more cheaply, while storing more energy, than currently available versions.
Storing vast amounts of energy in a cheap and efficient manner is the name of the game when it comes to powering whole cities with renewable energy, and despite its many strengths, this is where expensive lithium battery technology falls short. Molten salt batteries shape as a more cost-effective solution, which use electrodes kept in a molten state with the help of high temperatures. This is something that the Sandia scientists have been working to change.
"We've been working to bring the operating temperature of molten sodium batteries down as low as physically possible," says Leo Small, the lead researcher on the project. "There's a whole cascading cost savings that comes along with lowering the battery temperature. You can use less expensive materials. The batteries need less insulation and the wiring that connects all the batteries can be a lot thinner."
In their commercial form, these batteries are known as sodium-sulfur batteries, and a few of these have been developed around the world but generally operate at 520 to 660 °F (270 to 350 °C). The Sandia team have set their sights much lower, although doing so required a rethink as the chemistries that work at high temperatures don't lend themselves well to lower temperatures.
The scientists' design consists of liquid sodium metal that sits on the opposite side of a ceramic separator material to a novel liquid mixture made of sodium iodide and gallium chloride, which the scientists call a catholyte. When the battery discharges energy, chemical reactions take place that produces sodium ions and electrons that pass through the highly-selective separator material and produce molten iodide salt on the other side.
- ·A Journey Into the Mind of Stephen King
- ·中国林业生态作家协会成立 我市一作家当选协会副主席
- ·广东烤乳猪飘起一股团圆味,一道美味的传统盛宴
- ·遗嘱形式上存在严重缺陷 不具有法律效力
- ·Which iPad Model Is Right for You?
- ·八大任务!广东林业系统实施安全生产治本攻坚三年行动
- ·青山绿如画 森林小镇美
- ·继续保持“三增长” 各项工作稳步推进
- ·SCOTUS: The courts implementing Project 2025, without Trump.
- ·“顶流”与“顶流”的相会,西牛麻竹笋对话“尔滨”
- ·青山绿如画 森林小镇美
- ·雅康高速生态环境问题综合整治项目有序推进
- ·[From the Scene] How ‘world’s first oil town’ is wrestling to become ‘green'
- ·做好本职工作 努力建设全民科普
- ·专业指引方向 热心温暖人心
- ·居民消费更优惠!邮储银行开启“2024美好生活季”
- ·29 Dive Bars, Saloons, and Taverns Where the Vibe Is Unbeatable
- ·雅康高速生态环境问题综合整治项目有序推进
- ·11月份我市CPI下行明显
- ·专业指引方向 热心温暖人心
- ·NASA rover snaps photo of its most daunting challenge yet
- ·深刻学习领会十九大精神 以目标为导向优先发展教育事业
- ·土阉鸡“飞进”博览会
- ·阳西:坚持科技赋能,群策群力共绘“百千万工程”实景图
- ·Pakistan Cricket at crossroads after shock defeat at Pindi
- ·为挽救韩国白血病小伙生命 雅安人杨芳兵捐献造血干细胞